Many operations rely on disposable, printable strips that may be affixed to people or objects. These strips are provided in an appropriate and sometimes adjustable length. Often, the strips are formed from a multi-layered form sheet having a face sheet of printable stock and a liner sheet to protect any adhesive. Typically, these strips were formed entirely within the face sheet, while the underlying liner is simply discarded.
The shape of the strip formed from the face sheet after it is released from its label sheet is based on a predetermined cutout. For wristbands, the strip is usually an elongated strip, possibly with an enlarged central portion capable of carrying printed information. Adhesive may be selectively applied to one or both ends of the strip on the underside of the face sheet (i.e., the side that is in contact with the liner when the form sheet is first created). In this manner, after the strip is removed from the liner, it can be looped around an object (e.g., the neck, wrist, ankle or other appendage of a human or other animal) and adhesively secured.
As an example, many hospitals and healthcare providers rely on wristbands to prevent medical errors due to patient misidentification. These bands are removed from form sheets and secured around a patient's wrist or ankle, usually after information such as a patient's name, date of birth, identification number, and sometimes even the patient's picture and an assigned barcode, has been printed or affixed to the band (preferably, while the strip is still carried on its label sheet). The use of a form sheet allows the printing to be applied manually or automatically by feeding the label sheet into a conventional printer such as a laser printer, an inkjet printer, a thermal printer, and the like.
Strips formed into wristbands (and other identification articles) should be relatively thin yet sufficiently stable and rigid to undergo automated printing. The label sheet, including its face sheet and liner, must be able to withstand the mechanical and thermal stresses associated with those operations.
Certain identification strips, and especially those intended for use in a setting where the printed information could be intentionally altered or unintentionally marred (e.g., through contact with fluids, as may happen in a hospital setting), require lamination. Generally speaking, these laminating strips rely on a separate, detachable, clear plastic overlay (provided on the form sheet or as a separate item) that is placed over the printed area by the user either before or after the strip is formed into a looped band.
One drawback to this overlay approach is that it requires the user to precisely position the overlay, and a failure to align the overlay with the printed surface of the wristband may leave adhesive from the overlay exposed in a manner that adheres to the person's body. Also, providing the strip and overlay as separate pieces can lead to loss of one of the pieces and/or confusion for the user in how, where, and when to apply them. If the overlay wrinkles when placed to the printed surface, barcoded images may not be able to be scanned, patient information may be unreadable, and/or wrinkles could provide channels for liquids to directly touch the inner ply, thereby damaging or distorting the patient information.
As a result, a further category of self-laminating wristbands have been developed. Self-laminating wristbands have the laminating layer integrally formed with the band itself. This arrangement avoids the possibility of misplacing the laminate layer (either through loss or through improper application to the strip itself).
Such self-laminating wristbands usually require a more highly engineered form sheet. In terms of components, the form sheet includes a face sheet and a liner sheet may be similar, in terms of materials and appearance, to the more simplistic versions described above. However, the form sheets for self-laminating strips tend to rely on more complex perforation and/or die cuts that selectively penetrate one or both of the face and liner sheets, as well as adhesives disposed on either or both of the underside of the face sheet (same as described above) and the top side of the liner sheet. Additionally, variable-strength cutouts (i.e., one cutout may tear away with less force in comparison to another cutout on that same sheet) and/or differing adhesives between the face and liner sheets may be used to allow portions of a strip made from a form sheet to be temporarily or permanently formed from a combination of layers (i.e., the face sheet and the liner sheet).
One example of known, self-laminating wristband is depicted as it would be disposed on a form sheet (viewed from the face sheet side) in FIG. 1. Other variations are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,160. Here, the step-shaped strip 10 is formed almost entirely made from the liner material except for the printable surface 22 and cutout 26, as will be described below. The strip is generally divided into two ends 12, 14 connected by the central portion 20, having a top half of the central portion includes a printable surface 22, with sealing surface 24 immediately adjacent below the printable surface 22. Printable surface 22 is connected on one edge to end 12, while sealing surface 24 connects to end 14 on the opposite edge as shown, thereby imparting a stepped shape to the strip 10.
Sealing surface 24 is transparent and formed from the liner, while printable surface must be opaque or otherwise capable of retaining, and displaying in readable form, printed information. Printable surface 22 retains a portion of the face sheet for printing, although it is carried on and remains adhered to the liner when the strip 10 is removed from the form sheet.
An adhesive material resides on sealing surface 24 on the same outward facing side of strip 10 (i.e., of the top side of the release liner so as to contact the face sheet when the form sheet is fully intact). Thus, once the strip 10 is removed from the form sheet (for example, by pressing down on cutout 26 to release the liner from the face sheet), the adhesive on surface 24 is exposed. Once the entire band 10 is free from the form sheet, surface 24 (and it associated/attached end 14) are folded over surface 22 to laminate the printable surface 22. The fold must be sufficiently straight to ensure ends 12, 14 remain in proper alignment to simplify looping the ends 12, 14.
A separate adhesive patch and optional, removable face sheet cutout 26 are located at the terminal portion of end 14, also on the outward facing side (i.e., the same as the adhesive on surface 24). Cutout 26 protects the adhesive patch until the strip is ready to be looped and used as a wristband, as described below.
In use, the wristband is fed into a printer while on the form sheet, with the information printed on face sheet material of the print area 22. The liner is then separated from the remainder of the face sheet to create the strip 10. Perforations of varying, appropriate strengths are formed in the liner and face sheets to allow the strip 10 to be removed from the form sheet. While the band 10 is formed from the liner—which separates from the base liner sheet, a small portion of face sheet material associated with the printable surface 22 remains attached to the liner material of the strip 10. In the same manner, printed material appears on the strip 10. Removable cutout 26, designed to protect the adhesive also remains affixed at end 14.
As noted above, the entirety of sealing surface 24 and end 14 are then folded along dotted line 28 so that sealing surface 24 completely covers and adheres to printable surface 22, thereby acting as a laminate for the printable surface. Cutout 26 may then be removed, and ends 12, 14 are joined after looping the remainder of the strip around a person's wrist in a manner that has the printed, laminated information facing outward.
While this arrangement provides a laminated identification wristband, it has a number of drawbacks:                The reliance on the liner sheet to form the wristband limits the materials that may be used, and the stepped shaped of the strip may limit the ability to provide a substantial number of wristbands on a single form sheet.        The laminated, printed area 22 of strip 10 relies upon the liner sheet and face sheet remaining sufficiently adhered to one another, as well as the adhesive of surface 24 remaining sufficiently adhered to print area 22 after the wristband is formed and laminated. As such, the arrangement relies on a laminated tri-layer retaining its integrity along two separate surfaces, thereby increasing the chance of failure of the adhesive, separation of the layers, wrinkling, and/or a failure of the laminated wristband to fulfill its intended purpose.        The need to fold the strip 10 along line 28 end may result in a misaligned (i.e., non-linear) wristband that is unsightly in appearance, may be more difficult to use. In some instances, misalignment can create an uneven surface facing the person's wrist that could lead to potential skin irritation and discomfort (i.e., discontinuities facing the skin are created where the ends are joined and also along the edge where end 14 transitions to the end of central body 20) and, in an extreme cases, an inability to properly connect ends 12, 14.        The folding action required for laminating requires handling the entire strip 10 after it has been separated from the face sheet with the laminating adhesive exposed, giving rise to potential problems in the event of accident contact between the adhesive on surface 24 and the user's skin, other portions of the strip 10, and/or other objects.        
Accordingly, a need exists for a printable, self-laminating identification strip and/or wristband carried on form sheet article providing one or more band products which are securely retained in the sheet, yet which can be readily removed when desired. Moreover, it would be particularly desirable to provide such an article, in sheet, roll, or other form, that can withstand the mechanical and thermal stresses of printing, exhibits desirable skin-contacting qualities such as softness, and is relatively inexpensive and easy to make and use.